Josef Martinez scored two goals to increase his preseason total to four and rookie Julian Gressel had another strong performance before receiving two yellow cards in leading Atlanta United to a 4-2 win over Seattle, the defending MLS Cup champions, on Wednesday in the Carolina Challenge Cup.
With owner Arthur Blank at the stadium watching, Atlanta United played nine of the probable 11 that will start the March 5 season-opening game against New York Red Bulls at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium.
Seattle was starting what would be considered its B team, with no probable starters such as Clint Dempsey, Nicolas Lodeiro, Chad Marshall or Jordan Morris opening against Atlanta United. Lodeiro did come on in the 60th minute.
Needing three goals to tie and with Atlanta United down to 10 men following Gressel’s automatic ejection in the 66th minute, more of Seattle’s team’s standouts, including Dempsey, came on for the final 19 minutes.
To take its first trophy, Atlanta United would need to defeat Charleston on Saturday and it would need Columbus, which tied Charleston 1-1 in Wednesday’s opening game, to either tie or lose to Seattle. If Columbus defeats Seattle, it will take the trophy.
Here are five observations about the game:
Starting 11. Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino used nine of the players who seem likely to start the March 5 season-opening game against New York Red Bulls at Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium. Seattle started what would be considered its second team.
However, there were a few changes from the 11 that started against Columbus.
Gressel started in place of Chris McCann, who started the first two games as a defensive midfielder. It was Gressel’s first start this preseason and he played higher than McCann did in the first two preseason games. The move forward was the result in a change in formation, with Atlanta United shifting from the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 it used in its first two preseason games to a 4-1-4-1.
Yamil Asad, who scored against Chattanooga but sat out the Columbus game because of an injury, was back in on the right side.
Miguel Almiron moved back into the middle, which is where he started against Chattanooga before being moved outside against Columbus.
Missing. Kenwyne Jones, who started at forward the first two games, didn't dress. Neither did McCann. They were working on immigration documents. Anton Walkes missed his second consecutive game because he was also working on immigration documents. He is expected to return for Saturday's game. Defensive midfielder Carlos Carmona rejoined the team but didn't' play after missing the Columbus game.
Quick scoring. Atlanta United's pressure created chances early. It forced a poor back pass by Quinton Griffith, on loan for this game from Charleston, that Martinez intercepted in the penalty box. He rounded goalkeeper Bryan Meredith and calmly scored in the first minute for his third goal in as many games.
Two minutes later, Gressel was knocked down in the penalty box on a corner kick, resulting in a penalty kick. Almiron rifled it past Meredith’s right side for a 2-0 lead.
Leading 3-0 at halftime, Atlanta United scored quickly in the second half when Martinez cheekily chipped the goalkeeper in the 47th minute to open a 4-0 lead. Almiron earned the assist.
Gressel looks sharp … again. For the third consecutive game, Gressel made a case to be a starter. After being fouled and getting the penalty, Gressel hit a low, hard shot in the 18th minute that forced Meredith to dive to his right to save.
Gressel then sent Villalba down the line with a long, smooth pass that led to his goal in the 21st minute. It was Villalba’s second goal this preseason.
Gressel just missed another chance with Meredith parried his shot away a few minutes later.. He missed out on an assist when his pass to Villalba was chipped over the crossbar.
The only blemish against Gressel was the two yellow cards he picked up in a matter of minutes in the second half, which resulted in an automatic red card that reduced Atlanta United to 10 players for the final 22 minutes.
Energy/smarts. After looking lethargic for long stretches in the loss to Columbus, Atlanta United's players looked much sharper with much more energy against Seattle.
As an example, in the 45th minute, with the team already leading 3-0, Almiron had the ball 50 yards away from goal. There were five Atlanta United players already ahead of him steaming into the channels to try to add a fourth.
Against Columbus, Atlanta United’s energy seemed to ebb after Martinez’s goal in the sixth minute.
That energy started to dissipate in the second half, particularly after Atlanta United was reduced to 10 men.
Harrison Heath was lucky to avoid a red card in the 78th minute when he pushed Lodeiro to the ground after the Argentinian wrapped his arms around him following a foul further up the field.
After being subbed with six minutes left, Mears had to be told to sit down by Martino because he wouldn’t stop saying something to one of the officials on the sideline.
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